It is quite apparent that once the sting had been taken out of the title race with Man United’s comeback on Saturday, the emphasis and thought process suddenly turned towards the Champions’ League on Wednesday.

Had United slipped up and lost some points on Saturday afternoon I feel that the Stoke match would’ve been played out completely differently. Maybe it was about time that the lingering hopes of a title upset were finally extinguished.

The chase for the title is dead, long live the Champions' League ©Getty Images

Roman Abramovich, Carlo Ancelotti and the Chelsea players have their eye on one prize – the Champions’ League.

I personally think that this year’s sentiments from the faithful, too, are with the tournament that has caused us all so much upset over the years.

This year represents a great opportunity to reach the final in London, and not to mention the chance of exacting revenge on the team who beat us in the final 2 years back.

United are in a blip of their own, 4-2 against West Ham aside. Their defence is looking particularly fragile at the moment, with Vidic and Smalling for 45 minutes struggling to contain Carlton Cole. Faced with Torres and/or Drogba and/or Anelka will be a much tougher challenge than this weekend’s opponents.

Chelsea meanwhile have a slight defensive problem with the fact that Luiz is not eligible for Champions’ League duty with us, it leaves Ancelotti with the right back conundrum, no doubt he will opt with Ivanovic in the middle and Bosingwa on the right.

In my opinion this leaves us a little light in that position, Bosingwa is prone to attacking too much and offering too little defensively. Without Alex, though, there is no real solution to this problem. In my opinion putting the little utilised Ferreira in that position would be far bigger a risk to take.

The midfield will have to aid where it can in that case, it’s a tricky one because they need to be both ready to throw their weight around in front of the defence and be equally as ready to support the front line in the case of attacking play.

If it was up to me (it isn’t) I would ensure that Essien remains as far back as possible, with Ramires roaming around the centre of the park ready to pick up and loose balls and tracking back when needed. Lampard needs to be left further forward, and less inclined to help at the back. He is the one who can spot that killer pass, we don’t need him running around trying to win every ball. Ramires is more than capable, and Essien is an exceptionally talented ball winner.

There’s nothing much to change about the front line, the obvious fact has been stated on many occasions. They need service. With the midfield often going missing and acting as defenders too often, the attackers have regularly been rendered useless as their creative players aren’t finding them often enough.

The game will surely have a massive intensity about it, it would be disappointing to play at home – where we have an incredible record in Europe – and not try and grab the bull by its horns. To win the tie, we need a home win. Grabbing an away draw is certainly plausible, score or otherwise so Wednesday is all about getting up and at them and ensuring we take a lead to Old Trafford.

Saturday’s league game is a mere sideshow again, this is what we have all been looking forward to and the tension in waiting for Wednesday (and subsequently next Tuesday) is becoming palpable. I just hope the players feel the same.

Keep The Blue Flag Flying High!

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